For the first time in seven years, Chinese exports and imports hit negative growth, the latest Chinese customs statistics revealed.

November's exports and imports fell by 2.2% and 17.9% year-on-year respectively, totaling some 115 billion and 75 billion US dollars.

The last time such negative export growth was recorded in June 2001. Exports have fallen since July this year,while the yuan has stalled gains against the US dollar.

In the past months, export-oriented production bases such as those in the Pearl River Delta in south China have seen massive closures of factories as global economic conditions worsened following the US financial storm.

Other macro economic data released on Wednesday also hinted at further lapses in the Chinese economy as the country's top leaders set the tone for next year's economic development at the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which concluded the same day.

At that meeting, maintaining economic growth was the leaders'main focus in view of the challenges facing China. 

China's actual foreign direct investment (FDI) in November fell by 36.52% compared to the same period last year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said on its website on Wednesday. FDI in November totaled 5.3 billion US dollars, the lowest in 14 months.

As the economy slowed, producer price inflation too has also fallen after August, when the producer price index (PPI) hit a 12 year high of 10.1%.The November's PPI free fell to 2.0%, the lowest in more than two years.

With inflation cooled, Chinese leaders have changed the tone of economic policies from preventing inflation and overheating to guaranteeing growth, as fear of deflation set in.

Wu Xiaoling, former deputy governor of the central bank, told the Economic Observer (EO) in an earlier interview that China would have a tougher time than it did during the Asian financial crisis between 1997 and 1998.

Against such a backdrop, most government officials the EO interviewed believed the change in tone for next year should come as no surprise.

Before the Economic Work Conference, several routine meetings of the State Council and the central politburo had already sent a clear signal of the key focus on the docket--to ensure economic growth, increase domestic demand, and adjust the structure of industry.

Related policies to promote the above goals included nine measures to boost credit markets, ten measures to stimulate domestic demand, a four-trillion-yuan investment plan to be doled out out until 2010, and four big cuts in interest rates and deposit requirement.